Parole challenge

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, April 1, 2003

MARIA SUAREZ wonders if she will ever leave prison. Convicted of conspiring to commit murder in 1981, she has spent the past 22 years in prison.

Last June, the parole board approved Suarez for parole. Concerned about conflicting testimony from her co-defendants, Gov. Gray Davis sent the case back to the parole board, which reaffirmed its recommendation for parole.

Now, Suarez nervously awaits a verdict from Davis, who has until Friday to accept or overrule his own parole board's decision.

Suarez's tale is not a pretty one. When she was just 16, her family moved to Southern California. According to police reports, a neighbor offered Suarez a job as a house cleaner, but then sold her for $200 to Anselmo Covarrubias, then 68.

Known in the community as a witch doctor and sexual predator who had a volcanic temper, Covarrubias allegedly raped and beat Suarez repeatedly over the course of five years. According to witnesses who testified before the parole board, he wielded complete emotional, physical and financial control over her.

On August, 27, 1981, Rene Soto, who lived with his wife, Flores Soto, in a converted garage behind the house, clubbed Covarrubias to death. Suarez helped wash and hide the weapon, but insists that she didn't plan the crime.

At the time of Suarez's trial and conviction, a legal defense based on battered-women's syndrome was quite new. Her former attorney, moreover, was on probation, had never before tried a felony case, neglected to call a psychiatric witness and deeply regrets the defense he provided for Suarez.

Today, the parole board believes that Saurez acted out of fear for her life.

Dr. Lee Bowker, an expert consultant on battered-women's syndrome, testified that Suarez suffered from "an extreme level of torture and control for the entire length of her five-year relationship with the victim." Sgt. Stanley White, the homicide detective who arrested Suarez, now advocates her freedom.

Both the Sotos, moreover, have testified that authorities mistranslated their earlier statements and that Suarez never helped plan the murder of Covarrubias.

While in prison, Suarez has earned a GED, completed a vocational course in graphic arts and engaged in a variety of therapeutic and self-help programs. According to the parole board, she poses no threat to society.

California is just one of three states that allows a governor to overrule a state parole board. Voters gave the governor this power in 1988, which Davis has abused to show a resolute toughness against crime.

There is a time, however, to demonstrate compassion and common sense. At 43,

Suarez is ready and eager to make a contribution to society. Davis should give her a chance to start life over again.